Te Ahi Kaa mo 12 o Hereturikoka (August) 2012

When active volcanoes are in your backyard how do you prepare for that inevitable eruption? Well, for one thing you stay in communication with GNS Scientists who have been warning of the event for a long time and if you're Tuwharetoa hapu, Ngati Hikairo, you prepare nearby marae and have in place evacuation plans. Justine Murray learns more from Bubs Smith. Celia Lashlie is unapologetically Pakeha and middle class which wouldn't perhaps naturally marry in an advocacy role for Maori populating the lower socio-economic class. Yet, it does and it works because her direct manner and acknowledgment of the privilege associated with being pakeha and middle class means she has a deeper understanding than most of the layers of powerlessness that are so pervasive when you are poor and Maori. Dame Iritana Tawhiwhirangi is both a pioneer and expert when it comes to te reo Maori. Te Ahi Kaa salutes the Ngati Porou kuia who retired as a Maori Language Commissioner recently with recordings from that poroporaki and an interview with Justine Murray when she received the Te Tohu mo Te Arikinui Dame Te Atairangikaahu/Te Waka Toi Exemplary Award at the 2008 Nga Taonga Toi a Te Waka Toi (Creative New Zealand Awards).